Abstract
This study aimed to produce quail egg powder by freeze-drying and to evaluate its stability in different types of flexible packages (low-density polyethylene, polypropylene and pigmented polypropylene) in high relative humidity (approximately 81%) at 25 °C during 59 days. The packages were evaluated for water vapor permeability and freeze-dried egg was characterized as to bulk density and hygroscopicity (initial time), and moisture, water activity, pH and color (until the end of storage). GAB, BET and Peleg sorption isotherm models were adjusted to the experimental data to predict monolayer moisture content in the powdered eggs. The freeze-dried quail eggs presented a little oscillation in color coordinates, reduction in pH, and increase in moisture content and water activity during storage for all packages used. No evaluated packaging was sufficiently effective as a moisture barrier. GAB and BET models fitted better to the experimental data for the freeze-dried quail egg, and the estimated monolayer moisture values were 0.0333 and 0.0227 g H2O/g solids, respectively. The powdered quail egg has industrial potential, however, it is susceptible to significant changes throughout storage when exposed to high relative humidity and conditioned in the tested packages. Commercially, as this product can be sold in regions with different temperatures and relative humidity, it is essential to consider the use of preservatives or anti-wetting agents.
Highlights
The quails are small birds (100-200 g, in adulthood) which belong to the Galliformes order and Phasianidae family, and the Coturnix genus is the most used for captive breeding worldwide, specially, Coturnix coturnix japonica (Japanese quail), that is the most common quail regarding egg production
Its composition is similar to the chicken egg (Arthur & Bejaei, 2017; United States Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2021a; USDA, 2021b), the production and consumption of quail egg in the world are still very low compared to chicken eggs (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], 2021)
3.1 Moisture of liquid and powdered egg The liquid quail egg moisture obtained in the present study was 73.12% (± 0.91), a value close to 74.35%, provided in the quail egg composition table of the USDA (2021a)
Summary
The quails are small birds (100-200 g, in adulthood) which belong to the Galliformes order and Phasianidae family, and the Coturnix genus is the most used for captive breeding worldwide, specially, Coturnix coturnix japonica (Japanese quail), that is the most common quail regarding egg production. The Japanese quail requires a relatively small breeding area, reaches sexual maturity early, has high egg-laying rate (about 300 eggs during your reproductive period), is resistant to disease, and easy to handle. The quail egg performs an important role in human food due to its high nutritional potential, being a source of proteins, amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. In addition to the small size, the greater fragility of the quail eggshell (Sun et al, 2019) is an inconvenience, resulting in significant losses along the production chain
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